


Waking Up

by Deannie



Category: Stargate SG-1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-07
Updated: 2014-07-07
Packaged: 2018-02-07 13:22:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1900455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Deannie/pseuds/Deannie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There was nothing for it now except to open his eyes and have Jack fill him in. Because he knew Jack would be there. When Daniel was hurt, Jack was never anywhere else.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Waking Up

He hated the infirmary. Mostly because, before he even opened his eyes, before that first conscious breath that felt like ground glass passing through his lungs, he knew the bed. And it seemed somehow incredibly wrong to know any bed more intimately than his own.  


Why was he here this time?  


Daniel cast his mind back, stumbling over fragments until he clearly remembered SG-1's arrival on P8X-924. Caladin. He remembered the rough work camp they'd come across, and the tired, wary faces of the workers, and... a monster?  


No. No, not a monster. Just a man. A man clothed in animal furs and far more powerful than Daniel was...  


Nothing beyond that. Which meant yet another head injury. He was getting well and truly sick of those--he was sure to start paying for them soon, in some sort of permanent way. But there was nothing for it now except to open his eyes and have Jack fill him in.  


Because he knew Jack would be there. When Daniel was hurt, Jack was never anywhere else. Unless Jack had been hurt, too?  


But no. Daniel opened his eyes, squinting against the too-bright lights, and there sat Jack, wrapping and unwrapping a length of IV tubing around his middle finger. Jack's sixth sense kicked in and he looked up into Daniel's pain-filled eyes.  


"Hey."  


"Hello," Daniel returned quietly.  


"How you feeling?" Jack asked, conversational as always, though Daniel heard a current of slow-fading worry in his tone that hinted at a larger story.  


Daniel thought about his answer for a moment. "Been better."  


"Headache, huh?"  


His companion didn't risk a nod. "Yeah." He cleared his throat. "What happened?"  


Jack stood up, still fiddling with the length of tubing. His eyes were sharp, though he tried for a nonchalant tone. "Apparently, SG team members are worth a lot on 924."  


That jogged a memory. Something about a... "slave trader?"  


Jack shrugged. "We persuaded him to make a deal."  


Which said a lot while saying nothing at all. Jack didn't seem inclined to say anything more, but Daniel's brain was slowly unmuddling itself, and he started to remember. The trader had taken an interest in the new visitors, and Daniel had tried to open a dialogue. He remembered offering to trade... His right hand went to his left wrist, rubbing at the naked flesh there for a moment, before something shiny caught his eye.  


"Lose something?" Jack asked softly, dangling Daniel's watch in front of the other man's face.  


Daniel met his eyes as he took the watch in his own hands, and really looked at Jack for the first time. It had been close--he didn't need the pain in his arm and legs and chest and head to know that. He could see it in Jack's eyes. He couldn't recall the beating he'd obviously taken, but he did have a vague vision of Jack hovering over him, his voice tense with worry.  


"Sorry," Daniel offered, still in the whisper that was as much as he could manage just now. "Is everyone else all right?" _Are you?_  


Jack smiled softly--that thin, quiet smile he reserved just for Daniel. After a long moment, he nodded at the watch. "Try not to lose it this time."  


Daniel just nodded, running an absent finger over the face of the watch and searching for something to say.  


"The crystal's cracked, you know?" he offered after a moment.  


Jack's smile slid into something less tense. "Put it on your expense report."  


"I get an expense report now?" Daniel asked, trying for that light tone that always seemed to calm Jack down and prove to him that, yet again, they'd cheated the odds.  


He breathed a painful sigh of relief as Jack's shoulders lowered and he sat down again, leaning back in the chair and wrapping the IV around his finger.  


"You should really read the memos."

* * *  
The End


End file.
